Chapter 14: Roundtable
In the dim candlelight, half a dozen men wearing dark robes sat around an oak roundtable. A wooden wall slid aside, and a hooded man entered. The men stood at attention until the wall slid back into place and the hooded figure took its seat at the table. The hood fell revealing a stern face with a sharply groomed white beard and tidy gray hair. The shadowy candlelight gave his face a particularly serious tone and it gained a reddish hue as the formation on the walls lit up isolating the chamber from the outside.
"At ease, tell me about the recent situation in the capital." this man said without smiling.
The men present sat down and one of them began to speak, " Yes sir, Prince Wilson is posturing for the throne again. This time he's boasting to the court that his men will be the first to take Alphonso's plain. He's trying to send a message to his Majesty that although Prince Harris is stronger physically, he is a better candidate to unite the people."
"What about the deployment of troops?"
"As for Prince Wilsons faction: Duke Fairchild's forces retreated to the border. They took heavy losses and are awaiting fresh troops. Prince Wilson ordered the three remaining dukes of his faction to place their reserve forces under Duke Fairchild's command. We expect the first of these forces to arrive at the border in a week.
As for Prince Harris's faction: Our Mallory family and the Monahan family— under the urging of Prince Harris— are accepting extra troops. Our reserve forces arrived at the border last night. Duke Monahan and his troops are expected to arrive in three days."
"Duke Gardner isn't involved?"
"No, his territory is too far away. Prince Harris decided it would be too inefficient and wants him to remain flexible."
"Very well."
"About Duke Fairchild, he rode into the capital with his honor guard this morning. His son should be commanding the troops in his absence."
"Oh, this is an unusual move. What's his motive?"
"Your Honor please allow me to explain," said Niles. "Duke Fairchild would not have lost his base in Alphonso's Plain if he hadn't taken the advice of a saint realm expert known as Malbec. Our sources tell us Malbec and his apprentice have valuable information about the plain. When the Duke received word that Malbec's apprentice was captured he returned to interrogate him."
"You didn't let them meet, did you?" The leader asked with a frown.
"No, Your Honor, I switched out the boy Reinhold from the prison and interrogated him myself, but..." Niles hesitated.
"Don't tell us you made another grave mistake and we need to exile you." A man opposite Niles sneered.
Niles ignored the man and displayed a stack of paper, "No the boy provided extremely detailed intelligence, but..."
"Show me your report."
"Yes, Your Honor." Niles slid the document across the table to the tidy man.
"It's just..."
"So detailed! If this info is correct you will have redeemed yourself. However, if this info is wrong you will be punished severely"
"No, I... Your Honor, I can't say for sure if this information is correct..."
"Did you not verify this information yourself? Would you really dare to give us false information?" The man across the table from Niles tried to fan the flames.
"No, the boy was not lying..." said Niles.
"Then what?" said the man across the table.
"Your Honor, there are inconsistencies in the intelligence reports. I don't know if his memories have been tampered with. For one he has no memories of Malbec. Secondly, he claims to be close with our Mallory family."
"Preposterous! A mere ten-year-old boy from Alphonso's Plain has ties with our family?"
"Yes, it's preposterous yet he somehow recognized me and knew my name."
"You wouldn't be colluding with him, now would you?" said the man across the table.
"Don't joke!" said Niles. "The most worrisome thing of all is that he gave himself up to us willingly and has the void darkness spirit root."
"Void darkness? I smell a trap! Why have you brought us this rubbish, Niles? We should dispose of the boy at once," said a man who had been silent until now.
"Silence!"
"Yes, Your Honor."
"I see no harm in forwarding this boy's information. We, of course, will include a warning about its suspicious nature and our conjecture that it's a trap."
"However, if this information leads to an accident and we need someone to blame. You will receive the punishment, Niles. Do you want to take the risk?"
Niles protested in his head, 'How is it fair to punish me for this?' Yet he resigned himself. To atone for his past mistake, he would have to accept the risk involved. "I accept this risk."
"Your report mentions he has a collar of servitude originating from our country. This wasn't reported by our sources on the plain. Have you determined the owner?"
"Yes and no, the collar was registered to a man in Mallory City… Only, he died a year ago and his new owner is anonymous in our records."
"Anonymous? How could those useless bureaucrats allow anonymity in our country's records? Make a note to reprimand all clerks engaging in this behavior. What else do we know about his background?" asked the leader.
"I'm going to run it by our sources in other countries. Although, he claims he grew up in Mallory city not a single person there recognizes his portrait."
"Your Honor, should we dispose of him?"
"The boy's memories seem tailored for us. We don't know what Malbec wants to accomplish by gifting the boy to us, so we can only proceed with caution. Let's not become the next Duke Fairchild. For now, we will keep the boy where we can watch and hide him. Let's not make an enemy of Malbec. I'll see him myself after the meeting. Now for the next topic…"
* * * * *
The door to my cell opens and Niles reappears.
"Have you decided what you will do with me, Niles?" I ask.
"You want to serve the Mallory family, yes?" Niles takes out a key and uncuffs me from the wall. "I will take you to a place where you can serve our family."
"[True,]" say a few truthstones lying on the bench.
My heart is relieved. I didn't believe they would kill me, but you can't help worrying when you are in a helpless situation. I'm surprised however that he doesn't place new restraints on me.
"Wrap yourself in these blankets so that no one can see your identity," Niles says as a guard brings me an enormous black blanket.
"Why is this necessary?"
"Do you want Duke Fairchild to capture you?" asks Niles in disdain.
Oh, that's right, there's another troublesome thing this body's previous owner did.
I make a show of wrapping myself up in the blanket. As I do, I try to approach the table so I can sneak out a truthstone but the guard stops me.
"Hold it! Where are you going?" a guard says blocking my path.
"Shouldn't I bring a truthstone?" I ask putting on an innocent smile.
"Don't trouble yourself, I'll place this one around your neck personally when we get there," says Niles holding up a truthstone necklace.
[True.] The stone lit up green.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone